Explain rape victim's detention: SC to UP

Acting suo motu on a news report of a 10-year-old rape victim’s detention in a police station by women constables, the Supreme Court on Wednesday sought explanation from the Uttar Pradesh government. The court  described the incident as “very serious” and “shocking”.

A three-judge bench presided over by Chief Justice Altamas Kabir called the UP government’s standing counsel after reading the news report while hearing a matter challenging advocate on record (AOR) examinations.

During the hearing, the bench was referred to a news report on AOR examinations.
The bench stumbled on the news report concerning the detention of the girl from Bulandshahr district in Uttar Pradesh, which appeared on the same page of the newspaper.
 “What is this? A minor 'rape' victim in lock-up? This is much much serious. It is shocking,” the bench, also comprising Justices a R Dave and Vikramjit Sen, said. The state government counsel sought time to respond to the court’s queries.

“How can a juvenile be ever put in a police lock-up? It is not at all permissible under the Juvenile Justice Act. Let the state government respond to the newspaper report by Monday and explain the circumstances,” the bench said.

Notably, the UP government had already suspended two constables, who were on duty, and sent two women sub inspectors of “Mahila Thana” to police line after the incident was brought to the public by the media.  The victim and her mother went to the police station on Monday to lodge a complaint against a man, Harinder, for allegedly raping the 10-year-old the previous night and dumping her in an unconscious state.

Two women police constables, instead of registering the complaint, put the victim behind bars and asked her mother to leave the police station. The victim was released after protests by local people. The accused Harinder was arested on Tuesday.